Centro de Astrobiología

The "Martian" subsoil of Río Tinto, uncovered

With the first rays of the sun, the team of scientists and engineers starts up. Captained by an imposing truck of military appearance -reconverted in a laboratory- & nbsp; the researchers of the Astrobiology Center (CAB, CSIC-INTA) cross the Martian landscape of Río Tinto (Huelva). From & nbsp; moment to moment it seems that the Curiosity robot is going to overtake them while continuing, without rest, their mission. The enclave is the area closest to Mars that exists in the entire planet. "It does not look like this world," says Estrella Cortés, a researcher at the UNED's Biology and Environmental Toxicology group. P>

The site is located in the heart of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, in the southwest of the peninsula. . It is one of the largest open-pit mining sites in Europe and is characterized by the abundant presence of massive sulfide deposits, which have been exploited since pre-Roman times.